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The Tone Thread

#21
I was regarded as the tone junkie in my last band, but compared to some of you guys, I'm just a hack. :/

I love having several different basses with different tonal capabilites. My tone is definitely in my fingers first, but I also tend to run my basses all dialed in at "11", and control the dynamics with my hands... Or try to, anyway. So the bass' natural full-on sound is "my sound." I'm also pretty much solidly an active bass player - I don't have a justification for that one, I just like the sound of my active basses over my passives, with the exception of the Dingwall.

I've also found that I (a) don't understand compressors enough to make them work for me, or (b) am not discerning enough about them to make good use of them, so I just leave mine on "auto."

I realized that I love the tone from my little Fender Rumble amp for home, and had a bit of an epiphany - most of the people I'm playing for will never notice the difference between SWR cabs and Bergantino cabs in a live situation, so I went with SWR.

Finally, I realized that while I love listening to that "Ampeg" sound, I don't like it for my playing - sort of like listening to death metal vs playing it. I do, however, love my BBE BMax SS pre and can't wait to A/B against the BMax-T.
 
#22
wow what a subject:

Basses - my current bass (Curbow5) has a very modern sound but with a little arsing about with the peiazo and the amp eq i can get a nice warm thick tone but still keep the highs, this is due to the barts. as some people have previously said i dont liek messing with basses.
As for my future setup bass wise im a sucker for the warwick growl... a corvette or streamer jazzman for me..

amp.. i have played the rig i will be obtaining LMKII and a mark bass 1x15 traveler cab this (along with the wick im almost certain) will be my first venture in to pro gear.

Strings.. elite rounds at the minute, bit of zing but not to bright which is what i love, i think i may go for flats next change so i get some real thump.

active circuit is a must iv grown to used to it, so passive basses sound a bit dull to me. but again personal thing.

effects.. nout all i have used overdrive a few times purly as a request from the guy who asked me to record. i like to keep a clean bass sound and let my fingers do the expression.

Style of play - finger style elitist :D dont hate picks cant use em. i have a very light touch, but i also often play in a very percussive style using tapping or just an agressive finger method al la entwhistle/ butler

my tone is warm and natural sounding, but i do like having the tonal diversity since i am a student you never know what you might be playing.

well that was a great topic to end the night on
 
#23
I also believe the sound is mainly in your hands.

Basses: I've been using my Roscoe SKB3006 and my Mike Lull M5V, which both have Bartolini pickups. The Roscoe has a Bartolini 3-band preamp, the Lull has an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp. On both basses I mainly run the lows and highs flat and slightly boost the mids. At this time, Brian Ristola is building me a new 6-string bass with an alder/bubinga body, Bartolini pickups and an Aggie OBP-3 preamp.

Technique I mostly play fingerstyle and I tend to play right above the bridge pickup. I'd say overall I play with a medium touch, but I'll lay back or really dig in depending on the dynamics of the moment.

Strings I like nickel plated roundwounds, I mostly use D'Addario XL's, but I also use GHS Boomers or Ernie Ball Slinkys. I prefer my strings once they've lost a little bit of the new string zing, but haven't become totally dead.

Amp I use a Demeter HBP-1 preamp with a Crest CA9 power amp. I like the quickness of the Demeter, yet it still adds tube warmth and the Crest is one tough, powerful amp. I've been mainly using my two Aguilar GS112 cabs, but whenever I'm playing a bigger stage/room I'll use my Bergantino HT210/HT115 cab setup. I don't really use much of the Aggie's tweeters or the Bergie's horns.

Effects I haven't used one in many years, although I'd love to find an effect that can duplicate the sound of a cranked early 70's SVT head.

Tone I like a punchy sound with strong low mids. Kind of a cross between Jack Bruce's overdriven, midrangey tone and John Paul Jones' fat, cleaner, punchy tone with rolled off highs. I run just enough high end to add definition to my sound. I like Bartolini's because they put out a little bit of grunge, especially when I dig in.
 
#24
Great Thread!!!

Bass: I've found that certain basses that work well in 3 pieces may not work well in big bands (7+). In smaller bands I'll use a Warwick Thumb or Musicman because the growl will be heard and appreciated. In a big band like the church band I play with 90% of the time I find that a tight big bottomed bass works well. I usually reach for a Sadowsky or Spector in the big bands due to they just seem to carry big group better with their low end. I like rosewood fretboards and ash bodies due to their lightness and growl however my big band basses are made of rosewood fretboard/maple bodies. I love aguilar preamps although I only boost about 20% on the bass control and leave the treble flat. I prefer two band preamps and I absolutely hate to hear fret rattling.

Amp: I've never been a huge amp freak. I like a tube preamp and solid state power section. I love the sound of an all tube head but not the weight and upkeep that go with it. I bought a SWR 750 head and Goliath III years ago and their still serving me well for gigs. I have a SWR LA12 as a practice amp and I bought it mostly because it was one of the few small amps that didn't have a crappy limiter that farts out on actives and 5's. If I had unlimited resources I would have an Aguilar rig, but hey it is what it is. I play in church most of the time and just go direct.

Pedal: I'll use a chorus pedal on my fretless every once in a while. My primary tool in my band is my Sansamp Bass Driver that I go direct with. A good bass sound with about 30% of the Sansamp sound on the blend knob is tone heaven for me no matter what bass I use. I don't use a compressor cuz it messes with my dynamics, I'll let the FOH guy compress my tone because he knows how to use it and make it blend with the band.

Recording: Another one of those not every bass works here situations IME. My P-bass through the Sansamp is one of the most track filling bass tones I've heard, but I can't hear it when playing live. I can't get my Musicman to record worth a darn but every one of my other basses sounds great.

String: Nickel GHS Bass Boomers about two week old sound perfect to me. String freshness is essential for anyone who plays EMG pickups.

IME Fender type basses just push a band better, but my number one go to is a PJ type Spector. I play with as low an action I can get without finger noise. The P just melds with the kick drum like no other.
 
#25
Bass: P bass with flats. 'Nuff said.

Amp: Clean amp through cabs with no horns. A big part of my sound is no top end.

Pedals: None. Once and a while I use distortion/fuzz, but not often.

Style: Rock, country, blues.
 
#27
OK my philosophy is about finding my tone and it's taken about 10 years to get that right. I've been playing for 32 years.

I'm now at a place of a single fretless and a single fretted electric bass. That's all I need for recording/worship/jazz/improvisation work. I also have a Godin A4 fretless for home noodle and the nearest I can get to a URB without going vertical.

I don't own a rig at all. I just have a practice amp. I rent or borrow as required.

I finally stumbled on the Jaco fretless tone playing a CIJ fretless Jazz from the eigthies. It had all the right bits, alder, rosewood and maple and stock Fender Japan PUs. I sounded wonderful and it was the tone that had been in my head for ever. So I bought a CIJ Jaco, had the neck epoxy'd and swapped out the PUs for Nordstrand NJSEs and chucked in an Audere preamp for good measure. Wow. Tone. My worship leader said after listening to me limber up "I could listen to your bass all day". She loves it and so do I.

So I'd got my fretless sorted I then wanted a fretted to contrast with the fretless. After a lot of research and discussion on fora (plural of forum) I decided to go for a modern fretted tone with a walnut bodied, rosewood fretboard, maple/wenge necked bass. I commissioned Cliff Bordwell to make this bass and the hardware included Nordstrand Big Singles and of course an Audere preamp. Good choice. The walnut is brighter than alder but not too much. This works so well with the Audere it is a perfect match. You can get so many tones from this bass with finger position and pickup blend let alone the EQ from the preamp.

I love roundwounds and I always feel robbed when I try flats. I use DR Sunbeams mostly.

So for the Jazz, I prefer either 100% or 85% bridge PU and leave the EQ mostly flat. I occasionally have to cut the mids as this is such a mid rich bass especially if the room acoustics can't take it. The harmonics are really strong and tone is very much a sonic blast form all parts of the range. It is very melodic tone and can be used to play a melody line all on its own.

The fretted Ball bass can get that piano'y tone as well as the modern Gospel clipped funky tone that I love. The bass never lacks bass as I usually give that a bit of a boost and keep the mid/treble flat unless I go for that overblown bass tone in which case I caut the treble and mids. Cliff makes beautiful basses and this bass is so easy to play that others ask: "is it a short scale?"

got to go.
Davo
 
#28
I tend to shun from the trebly side of bass. I like thick mids and nice thumpy bass, and I lean towards high mids some to give it presence without the clank. I found mahogany to offer the most desirable tone, but I've only tried mahog, basswood, alder, ash, and bubinga (but the bubinga was with a tweeter and totally killed my experience)
If i can, I avoid tweeters like the plague, cause I HATE fret noice in my sound, and I find that I can't really get into the music if I have to worry about such precise finger placement as to avoid fret noise as much as possible. I generally like a muted pop sound when I'm slapping, but occasionally enjoy that airy open J sound when the song calls for it.
as far as amps go, I love 15's but I found out when I put a 4x10 in the line, I can bring out the gutty mids soooo nicely!!!
I'm thinking of using flat or groundwounds now on my mahogany bass, but I'm also thinking about buying an EQ stompbox with a slight mid boost and high roll off, and then shutting off the EQ when a slap passage comes along
 
#31
Basses: I generally buy fairly high end basses that do not require modification. As posted earlier, why pay a small fortune for a high end instrument if you have to modify it? I play different basses depending on the gig or what mood I am in. I have 2 Fender P's, 2 Stingrays and two Sadowskys. All are 4 strings except one of my Sadowskys (a 5 string MS5). I believe A LOT of the tone comes from the hands, but not all. The sounds I can get out of my Sadowsky NYC are completely different than from my 1974 P with flats. I am a big fan of having different basses for different jobs. I also use my bass and treble controls quite often. I am experimenting with using settings beyond bass on full and treble nearly off!

Pickups: Again, IMO there is no need to buy an expensive bass and then pay more to change pickups. I am happy with the stock MIA Fender, Sadowsky and EBMM SR pickups.

Strings: I tend to stick with EBMM Regular Slinkies on my Sadowskys and Stingrays. My 1974 Fender is stung with D'Addario Chromes. I find a Fender P with flats is very useful for blues, reggae and lost of other music.

Pedals: I have lots of pedals (Bassballs, MXR 10 band EQ, MXR Auto-Q, Distortion, Sadowsky Preamp/DI, Chorus, etc.) but lately I haven't been using them at all. The only effect I am currently using on gigs is my MXR Auto-Q. I love this pedal for RHCP, Lenny Kravitz and other funky tunes. I am tring to use my hands to get different tones out of my basses. I am working on different right hand placements, playing harder/lighter, etc.

Amp: Currently a Markbass F1 for rehearsal and an Ampeg SVT-CL for gigs. I love the sound of the F1 and the fact that it fits into my gigbag is a huge bonus. I recently fell back in love with Ampeg SVT heads and bought one last month. The SVT tone is exactly what I am looking for in an amp. I just love how full and punchy it can sound.

Cabs: I have always been an Ampeg guy and have been using SVT115 and SVT210 cabs since I ditched my Ampeg 8x10 fridge due to size years ago. I keep various cabs at 2 drummers places so I only bring a bass and the F1 to rehearsal. I recently bought a Sadowsky SA410 for gigs and the tone I am getting out of this with my SVT is amazing.

Pick or no pick: I play fingerstyle almost always. I slap on a few songs (old funk, RHCP, etc.) and very rarely use a pick. If I happen to have a pick on me at a gig, I may play a Police or Foo Fighters tune with a pick to try to faithfully replicate the sound of the original artist, but usually it is fingerstyle.
 
#33
"You get what you hear, you hear what you play."

I'm not sure who said that but I find it's true.
In my ears I have what I think Bass should sound like [when I play] and through the years I've done what I can to make that sound come out of whatever equipment I was using at the time.

In the beginning it was a '62 P-Bass, strung with Roto-Sound Swing Bass but with a bridge mute to cut the higher overtones. That went through a Peavey Dyna Bass head through a 1X15 Guild cab loaded with a Altec Lansing 421 8H and a 1X15 folded horn (I bought from the guy that made it) loaded with an EV SRO.
The head was replaced by an Acoustic 450, later the cabs were replaced with a JBL design 2X15 cab with Altec Lansing 421 8Hs. That was my touring rig. The P-Bass was replaced with a MM String Ray strung with Gibson Observer flat wound strings (which I replaced after every 5th show).
After I got off the road I played through a GK 150MB into Bull Frog cabs 1X15 & 1X 18 (both EV) they were the lightest cabs I could find. Basses varied, but mostly Fender P or Jazz, I settled on a Jazz with Seymour Duncan Classic Jazz stacks (the old purple ones), black body, pickguard and all black hardware with a maple fingerboard. I was using D'Addario XL 170s (which I use today) and no bridge muting since the MM String Ray.
I now use a Fender '97 Am. Deluxe P-Bass and I let the strings go dead to reduce the upper harmonics. I like a strong fundamental tone with even-order harmonics. The bridge pickup is great for bringing out my right hand work ( I believe that the fingers are the most important creators of "tone") and the P pickup gives me that fundamental "thump" and clarity of "pitch" that I hear "good" bass tone as having. I use the tone controls flat (center detent) on the Bass.
I play through a GK rig, 1001RB II with a 1X15 & 1X12 NEO cabs. I like the 1001 BR II for the head room and run the tone controls almost (room dependent) flat. In bi-amp mode I run the horns at half the level as the bass out. The NEOs are very tight sounding.
Bass that sounds good to me has good pitch recognition, a good envelope (clear start & stop of the note) not much in the way of odd order harmonics and has good balance with the drummer (in a live or recorded situation).

Now, I also think John Entwhistle had great tone too !! as did / does Chris Squier, Stanley Clark , Jack Casady and a whole host of other Bass players, I guess they "get what they hear, they hear what they play." for themselves.

After playing for a length of time, you just start to get what you hear in your head. With all the Basses and amps available everyone is able to sound like they want (or can afford).

The bottom line (as I see it) is your hands, head and ears are the most important parts of your instrument for getting the sound you get, I think, for some people, they get the sound in their mind but want somebody else's sound.... thus the relentless GAS.......

CFofS

Dave
 
#34
I think it's interesting to hear other bassists playing live and notice the differences in sound between yours and theres, even with similar gear. A few weeks ago I was selling a bass and a guy came over to try it out and I NEVER could get the bass to sound as good as he did. My amp's EQ settings were the same but he did mess around with the controls on the bass. Just an interesting thought...

Basses - Spectors: they have a growly and punchy tone that seems to seep through every recording regardless of how it's EQ'ed, mixed, and mastered. To me, they sound dirty and clear at the same time which I love!

Strings - DR Hi-beams: they last a long time and initially have a bright sound that gets fatter and rounder with play. I think I like them more for how they feel though...I do a LOT of bending and they're not stiff but not floppy either.

Amp - Aguilar AG500SC with Agro preamp - why didn't I just get the AG500? Because I want the saturation cascading into the clean channel to really put some oomph behind everything. The head has a great clean sound and is warm, slightly colored, but very clear. And the Agro is absolutely amazing for adding a little dirt on the clean signal. But after about halfway up on the saturation dial, the fuzz remains pretty much the same with only the sustain characteristics being changed.

Cab - Aguilar GS412 - I need a lot of girth and weight to even out all the midrange inherent in the rest of my gear and this cabinet is excellent for that. It's light and easy to move (for a large cabinet). And just the immense size of each note is truly awesome!
 

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